The first book of Louise Lawrence's gripping Llandor Trilogy. Roderick, Carried and Craig - on their chase through the forest - find themselves crashing into a frighteningly alien world of terrifying monsters and strange beings. Unable to find their way out, they are befriended by Janine, the elf girl, and many others, as they are forced headlong into a flight through Llandor, pursued by the evil presence of the Grimthane.

This volume examines a variety of utopian writing for children from the 18th century to the present day, defining and exploring this new genre in the field of children's literature. The original essays discuss thematic conventions and present detailed case studies of individual works. All address the pedagogical implications of work that challenges children to grapple with questions of perfect or wildly imperfect social organizations and their own autonomy. The book includes interviews with creative writers and the first bibliography of utopian fiction for children.

When Davy and his friends discover the skull of an ancient Briton buried in the woods, they decide to unearth as much as they can of the skeleton themselves before telling any adults. But by the time they have disinterred the skeletons, Davy has become the subject of hauntings and hallucinations.

The nature of childhood, the consideration of whether a certain age denotes innocence or not, and the desire to teach good citizenship to our children are all issues commonly discussed by today's media. This book brings together a variety of perspectives on the study of childhood: how this has been treated historically and how such a concept is developing as we move into the next century. The book is divided into five main sections: * part one sets the scene and provides the reader with an overview of attitudes towards childhood. * part two surveys the contribution of literature from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries * part three examines educational issues such as childrens' play, language acquisition and spiritual development * part four looks at the representation of children in film, television and other mass media * part five offers further help for study and research This book draws on a number of academic disciplines including education, literature, theology, language studies and history. It will be of particular use to those on Childhood studies courses and all those studying for a teacher qualification. Teachers of children aged between 4-12 years old will find its contribution to their continuing professional development extremely helpful.

Once upon a time all literature was fantasy, set in a mythical past when magic existed, animals talked, and the gods took an active hand in earthly affairs. As the mythical past was displaced in Western estimation by the historical past and novelists became increasingly preoccupied with the present, fantasy was temporarily marginalized until the late 20th century, when it enjoyed a spectacular resurgence in every stratum of the literary marketplace. Stableford provides an invaluable guide to this sequence of events and to the current state of the field. The chronology tracks the evolution of fantasy from the origins of literature to the 21st century. The introduction explains the nature of the impulses creating and shaping fantasy literature, the problems of its definition and the reasons for its changing historical fortunes. The dictionary includes cross-referenced entries on more than 700 authors, ranging across the entire historical spectrum, while more than 200 other entries describe the fantasy subgenres, key images in fantasy literature, technical terms used in fantasy criticism, and the intimately convoluted relationship between literary fantasies, scholarly fantasies, and lifestyle fantasies. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that ranges from general textbooks and specialized accounts of the history and scholarship of fantasy literature, through bibliographies and accounts of the fantasy literature of different nations, to individual author studies and useful websites.

It is mid-July, the time of year governed by Cancer - the moon's sign. David's archaeologist father is excavating a Roman mosaic found in Yorkshire. David becomes fascinated by an ancient stone circle on a nearby hillside, but his interest turns to a pervading fear when he touches the stones and gets a powerful electric shock. He befriends Westwood, who has a theory that the stones were used in ancient times to call forth water by chanting 'til the vibrations hit a powerful resonating note. Hence the name 'weeping stones'. And after centuries asleep, something has re-activated them. David's father dismisses Westwood as an eccentric dabbler, and the townspeople throw him out as suspicious and untrustworthy. But Westwood's theory predicts a catastrophic flood - unless David can convince everyone of the stones' extraordinary force, find out what has woken them and turn the power back ...

The label on the bottle reads 'There be a witch in here. Let her out and there be a peck of trouble'. But Mike is always trying to emulate his impulsive sister or his responsible brother. Then his friend Lee swears he sees something fly out of the bottle, and Mike decides to open it again. Out flows an extraordinary tableau - a Fire King astride a stallion, and a beautiful woman in a bower of flowers - the archetypes of Yin and Yang in terrible conflict. Mike, seeing that he can tip the balance, throws his lot in with the king. When things go wrong in the real world, Mike returns to his vision, to find that the Fire King has wreaked havoc. He changes his allegiance to the Lady - and sinks into a deep depression. Slowly he learns that the answer lies not in choosing the power of fire or of water, Yin or Yang, his sister's or brother's way - but in the eternal dance between them.

Peter, Michael and Emma are strangers, each despatched by their parents for a week's holiday with the Myers in their cottage at the foot of a Welsh mountain. Coincidence? Or has the strange neighbour, Mrs White, somehow lured them to enact an awesome quest? They are an uneasy trio, uncomfortable in their forced alliance, and they face their circumstances in very different ways - Mrs Myers anxious 'mothering', the enigmatic Mrs White, and the swirling sense of fear that seems trapped in the lane running past her house, her stories of Arthur's Way, the old straight track shrouded in legend that leads straight to the peak of the mountain, and her obsession with diverting the spring at the top. There are peculiar visitors and strange warnings, yet the children feel compelled to set off up Arthur's Way at the most dangerous time of year. What they discover, about unseen forces on earth, about the price of disturbing nature, about themselves, leads to a gripping climax in a spell-binding tale. First published in 1973 by Jonathan Cape Ltd.

In the midsummer of his twelfth birthday, Davey, his twin cousins and his sister Kate, embark on a tour of the infamous underground city in Davey's hometown. As the tour progresses, Davey finds himself separated from the others, and inside an eerie chamber. Here he is drawn to a large and hazy-glassed mirror. In a moment, Davey's reflection blurs, and he finds himself back on the streets of the ancient city - but the residents are not of his time - they are ghosts, and some do not take kindly to those from 'the other side'. Davey encounters some friendly spirits, too - but they urge him to try to make it back to his own time, before an evil ghost crew discovers he is mortal. A frantic search for his own world begins, and Davey makes it just in time. But he senses there is unfinished business and, come Hallowe'en, the ghosts will be on the lookout for him - and this time they will be visiting his world . . .

Davey is trying to forget the scary events of last midsummer, but an encounter with a face from the past brings memories flooding back-and some very bad news. Then an archaeological dig turns up more than just a few old bones and Davey, his sister and cousins are once again battling with evil forces from the underground city.